How to spend the day Irish style

St. Patrick’s Day! The day we all have a little Irish in us. I was going to add that if we’re lucky we have a big Irish in us, but that seems crude. Plus my mother reads this blog. So I won’t say it.

Liam Neeson. (sorry. couldn’t help myself)

How far we take our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations kind of revolves around our age, gender, and whether or not we have the energy to throw up a leprechaun at the end of it all.

But there’s more to the Irish than the stereotypes of drinking Guinness and wearing Irish lace.

There’s drinking Irish coffee and wearing fisherman knit sweaters.

I haven’t celebrated St. Patrick’s Day since I went to my friend Brigid’s house in Grade 4 and was bamboozled by the green spaghetti her mother served. I was suspicious of it and assumed it was some sort of Irish witchcraft. Looking back on it, it was probably just spinach pasta.

This year I’m going to give St. Patrick’s Day another go.

If you’re interested in doing the same, I’ve come up with an easy to follow “How to Spend the day Irish Style” guide for you.

An hour by hour schedule of all things Irish you can do.

Wake up: Down an Irish Coffee. This coffee mixed with Irish Whiskey is a great way to work up the nerve you’ll need for your next step.

9:00 a.m. Laze around: You now have the better part of the day to make traditional Irish soda bread. You can sit around all quiet-like in the kitchen making soda bread but the smarter thing to do would be to blast some music. Music makes everything better. The top three Irish choices I’d go with are Van Morrison, The Pogues and Stiff Little Fingers. Irish classics if ever I heard one.

11:00 a.m. Call a few friends: Ever talk to your friends and suddenly realize you’ve told them everything there is to tell them? That’s when a good joke comes in handy. Here you go …

An Irishman was flustered not being able to find a parking space in a large mall’s parking lot. “Lord,”he prayed,”I can’t stand this.If you open a space up for me,I swear I’ll give up drinking me whiskey, and I promise to go to church every Sunday.” Suddenly, the clouds parted and the sun shone on an empty parking spot. Without hesitation, the man said,”Never mind,I found one.”

12:00 p.m. Eat lunch: Have a slice of toasted soda bread with chocolate milk. Chocolate milk of course, was invented by Irishman Sir Hans Sloane in the 1680. The Irish just got more awe inspiring.

1:00 p.m. Nap time: Your belly’s full, you’re kindda sleepy, you called in sick. Might as well take a nap. Dream of submarines, tanks, and guided missiles. All invented by the Irish. Which is why the only people who mess with the Irish are other Irish.

2:00 p.m. Read: You’ve napped so you can probably now read a book without falling asleep 1 paragraph into it. Ireland has produced literary giants like James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and C.S. Lewis, all producing classic novels. Maeve Binchy who died in 2012 didn’t write literature. She wrote good old fashioned books and she did so with a story telling skill that seems to be bred into the Irish. And if you haven’t read Angela’s Ashes by Irish/American Frank McCourt do so now. Like, right now.

5:00 p.m. Make Dinner: Shepherd’s Pie! I love Shepherd’s Pie but I didn’t really know how to make it really well until about a year ago. And the version I make is admittedly a churched up version of it. It’s based on this recipe from Gordon Ramsay. It’s seriously delicious. Seriously.

8:00 p.m. Watch TV: Moone Boy. If you do only one thing on this list, this is the thing to do. It’s an Irish sitcom I was introduced to by my friend (and globe trotting makeup artist) Andrea. It revolves around 12 year old Martin Moone and his imaginary friend. And it is great television all around.

And now your day of Irish is almost complete.

Head up to bed, get under the covers and say a little prayer of thanks to the Irish. For the hypodermic needle, WiFi, flavoured potato chips, the tattoo machine, colour photography and soda water.

Everybody loves this holiday, and now with your guidance there’s way more to love. At my house we have a longstanding joke, though, because my husband’s heritage is Irish and mine is very British. So when he says “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” I always reply with “My people kill your people.” Always sets us up for a fun day together.

Ok, it’s 11.00 am here in Dublin, Ireland.
I’m too late for Irish Coffee, had a cuppa tea (or tay depending on where you’re from in Ireland!). No need to call in sick, it’s a holiday here! Yay! Meeting friends later to celebrate Paddy’s Day.

I loved the smell of “minced meat” cooking when I came home from school. Ground beef with onions, carrots, garlic simmering away. She used to put an egg in her mashed potatoes too, but no one believed me. Now, Gordon Ramsay does it, so it must be good!

I am drinking green beer as soon as it’s acceptable and I just might eat some of that corned beef boiled in apple juice! I’m part Irish so I get the day off with pay already. Now for finding that show Moone Boy. Cheers!!

While I love Angela’s Ashes,I pretty much spent the entire book balling my eyes out. It was a lovely, poetic, catharsis for Frank McCourt who really is a brilliant writer. The sequel, ‘Tis, is also fantastic and, comparatively, like the sun came out after a dark storm! I love the Irish writers- they are the kings of the snarky, run-on sentence!
Another incredible, little-known Irish movie is “An Everlasting Piece”. It’s a comedy taking place in Belfast about a couple of fellas who cut hair in an insane asylum. One is Catholic and the other, Protestant. The movie features John Cleese (yes, I know he’s a Brit but oh such a good comedian) as the owner of the biggest hairpiece company in Ireland who gets put in the insane asylum for scalping a client. The two hair utters set out to get his client list with the intent of taking over the business and hell does break loose!

OMG, I love Moone Boy. Have watched all the episodes on Hulu+ and am waiting for another season to arrive (soon, I hope). I guess tonight, being St Patty’s & all, I’ll have to watch them all again! Top O the Mornin to ya.

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye, lass! I already loved the Irish (hello?! U2?!? and then some) but learning about all of these Irish inventions really gave me a warm fuzzy. Need to visit Ireland!

Can’t do an Irish coffee here at the office but I AM having a Vietnamese coffee (http://tinyurl.com/72hmg4a) with a splash of Bailey’s coffee creamer, I’m wearing (appropriately) Kelly green, and my hair is red. Plus I’m Irish. Will that suffice?

Oooh, I love Moone Boy!! I haven’t finished watching it so, that’s perfect. Today is day 9 of working 14 days straight so I cheated and bought a corned beef and cabbage dinner at the grocery last night. But, then I realized that I didn’t buy enough for two people, so I’m going to have to make some more potatoes and cabbage. I can’t be trusted to grocery shop after a 9 hour shift in a grocery store without a list. Somehow I ended up spending $70 and I don’t know what I bought.
Maybe I’ll just try to make the corned beef into a shepard’s pie, or maybe I’ll just order a pizza.

That Shepherds Pie sounds great..can I leave out the wine?? My version is just browned ground beef..mashed potatoes on top of that and cheese on top of the potatoes..simple but good..sometimes I put a veggie between the meat and potatoes..Today it is Corned Beef and Cabbage..This is the only day of the year that I make it so we really look forward to it.. Happy Irish Day Everyone!!!

Liam Neeson has been in the news here in NYC lately because he’s a supporter of the horse-drawn carriages and our mayor is not. I’m with Liam. Anyway, in today’s NY Post, Liam says:
Ballymena, North Ireland’s Liam Neeson: I was Guinness’ brewery forklift truck driver there and want to end my days doing that again. Returning periodically keeps me on an even keel. Whatever bothers me I can see my way through. That simple life cuts through the BS. Even my [dogs] Molly and Ceilidh (means Irish Dance) have Celtic names.
Love that man. Happy St. Paddy’s everybody!

Hi Karen,
Here in Chicago everyone is losing their minds as it’s sunny and slightly warm. We are wearing silly green items and feeling like MAYBE spring will eventually show up.
To celebrate, I just made the recipe you posted, as it was a bit of freak Irish luck that I had everything so why waste the opportunity? I also love Liam Neeson, as well as Daniel Day O’Lewis.
Happy SPD, everyone!

me mother taught me this Irish curse – I hope you can use it:
“May those that love us love us. And for those who don’t love us, may God turn their hearts.
And if he cannot turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles, so by their limping we may know them.”
Happy St. Paddy’s Day!